The President’s plan to spend money on social programs and climate change have been cut down to $1.75 trillion, which takes months of negotiations.
This proposal from the Democrats is very important. It includes a lot of things that they want to put in it. They want to have a paid family leave program for parents and other caregivers, which would be the first one in America to take care of their kids.
But this new policy includes other big changes like giving kids pre-K, helping with daycare costs, providing health care to many people, and providing money for clean energy that will fight climate change.
Democrats also put in a provision that would update the green card registry. It is from 1972, so it does not include people who came into the country before 2010.
“No one got entirety they wanted, including me. But that’s what compromise is. That’s consensus.” Joe Biden said in a speech on Thursday morning after meeting with Congress about the bill.
Deadline for Income Change Reporting for Child Tax Credit Looming
A lot of Democrats can’t agree about what they want their plan to be. Some people don’t like the more expensive plan that Biden first said. So some Democrats might not vote for it.
Progressive Democrats are not sure they like the proposal for many reasons. They think that Congress will forget about social programs if they first focus on repairing our roads, bridges, and rails.
The House is voting tonight on a one-week extension of transportation funding. Lawmakers will use this time to work out the social reforms.
Here’s some of what is in, and what is out, of the social spending as well as climate bill, according to the White House and members of Congress:
WHAT’S IN
- Fighting climate change takes a lot of money– The most expensive part of this bill is for tax breaks for electric cars and to make communities more resistant to extreme weather.
- Universal pre-K; subsidies to reduce daycare costs – If we got another $400 billion, we could pay for a new six-year program that would give free preschool to 3- and 4-year olds. This would happen from now until 2026. If you have a family income of up to 250% of the median income in your state, then you can get free child care for your kids.
- The tax credit for children was extended. This is good for people with kids. – The government has changed the tax to get a credit on your monthly bill instead of waiting a whole year. This will help more parents and people who earn less money.
- In the United States, there is a gap in Medicaid coverage. This can be fixed with better health care and more money. – People who live in states that refused to expand Medicaid eligibility under the Affordable Care Act can get tax credits if they want to receive health coverage through Obamacare. This is until 2025.
- Medicare coverage for people with hearing issues.
- You can get health insurance that is cheaper when you buy it through the Affordable Care Act.- This is because premiums are lower when bought through the ACA marketplace and not directly from an insurance company.
- Medicaid is now helping people pay for home care services.
- The government wants to spend $150 billion to increase the availability of affordable housing.
- If you are a low-income college student, your Pell Grant might be bigger.
- She expanded school free meals.
WHAT’S OUT
- Paid Medical and family leave – The parents or caregivers will have twelve weeks of paid leave. But during negotiations, it was reduced to four weeks.
- Medicare recipients can get dental and vision care.
- Some people are trying to make prescription drugs cheaper – Rep. Frank Pallone, a New Jersey Democrat that one leads the House Energy as well as Commerce Committee, says he is committed to finalizing a deal that would allow for price negotiations.
- We can spend $109 billion on tuition-free community college for two years.
- The Clean Energy Performance Program is a program that helps you be more energy efficient. – The Clean Power Plan provides money for utilities to stop using fossil fuels.
A new social spending bill will be paid for by a 15% tax on big corporations. This tax will also apply to the income of very rich people, like multi-millionaires and billionaires. The bill won’t increase taxes for people who earn less than $400,000.
Part of the Trump administration’s 2017 tax cuts will be rolled back to find more money for this plan. This means that fewer money will go to paying taxes. People who do not pay their taxes will have more problems with the IRS.
Child Tax Credit Update: Families Will Get Paid $7,200 Per Child in 2022 by IRS
The Biden administration announced new details on Thursday. This happened when the President gave a sales pitch to Democrats in the House of Representatives before leaving for his trip to Italy and Scotland.
Biden is visiting a country, and he wants to ask them to reduce greenhouse emissions. If the United States doesn’t take any steps, it will be hard to convince other countries.
‘Betting on America’
Biden is talking about a proposal that can help our country be better in the world. He wants the U.S. to have more power, and he believes that this is an important investment for us to make to get there.
“These plans are about betting on America, believing in America, and trusting the people,” Biden said.
Biden and the Democrats got help from Barack Obama. He said this deal is a chance to build on what has happened in his time as well as address several of the most urgent problems.
Progressives’ votes
But progressives were not willing to vote for an infrastructure package without knowing what it said. The whole legislative text for the social reform package needs to be ready, and Manchin and Sinema need to back it. Progressives also want the social reform bill to go on the floor along with the infrastructure bill.
“It is too important to have one bill without the other,” she said. “If one bill is passed, and the other isn’t, then the people will be confused.”
Rep. Cori Bush said that she would not vote on the deal to fix our big roads. She was not happy with how the President proposed it.
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Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Democrat from Minnesota, said that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi does not have enough votes from the House Progressive Caucus to pass Biden’s infrastructure package.
House Democrats are upset because the members Sinema and Manchin have not said that they will vote on Biden’s plan.
After months of good-faith negotiations with President Biden and the White House, we have progressed on the proposed budget reconciliation package. I am looking further to getting this done and helping everyday families get ahead.
Pelosi defended the President’s framework. It does not have everything that Democrats wanted, but it is still a historic social reform bill.
“I’m still fighting for paid leave.” She said this, and then she said that the federal government provides paid family leave for Department of Defense federal employees.
The Trump administration wants to give 12 weeks of paid family leave for federal employees. Manchin passed a bill like this.
Pelosi did not ask if Manchin and Sinema would vote “yes” for the Build Back Better package.
She said she trusts the President of the United States.
Fine Print
The House Rules Committee free a nearly 2,000-page draft text of Biden’s social reform package just before the press conference.
The Rules Committee heard the bill. The Republicans said they did not have enough time to read the text and asked for more time.
The House Committee meeting was not for marking up the bill. It does not mean that the House will vote on this bill on Thursday.
Pallone, the person in charge of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said that he would push for a law that includes prescription drug pricing. The law should include caps on seniors’ out-of-pocket spending and penalties for pharmaceutical companies when they unfairly raise drugs.
Pallone said, “I hope that it would have been in there.” We need to make these investments to deal with the public health crisis.
Immigration and The Senate
Democrats plan to use the process called reconciliation. It is hard for them because they need to get votes from both sides of Congress. The Senate parliamentarian needs to check if the provision on immigration will be allowed because it needs a simple majority in the Senate, evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans.
The person who makes sure that the rules are followed has said that Democrats‘ plan to give citizenship to millions of people is wrong.
The Biden administration spent $100 billion on immigration. It is not just money for social reform. The money will help reduce the backlog of immigrants, get more lawyers for them, and help with processing at the border.
Jerry Nadler, the leader of the House Judiciary Committee, says that this plan will help improve immigration policy.
Congress is taking a step forward in our effort to modernize our immigration system. The country will benefit from the economic gains for decades.
Immigration provisions mean that people who have lived and worked in the U.S. for more than 11 years can apply for permanent residency. President Ronald Reagan also wanted this to happen, and now we’re finally doing it!
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